Month: March 2017

People assume that as a teen services librarian, that I enjoy reading young adult fiction. While I read plenty YA titles to stay current for my job, my passion is true crime. Every person who has met me knows that I’m a true crime addict. It’s very rare that I get to work that passion into my job, but this month the reference department was kind enough to let me create a bookmark on the topic. It’s a mix of some of my favorites and a few well-reviewed titles that are on my radar to be read. You’re welcome to use this bookmark for your own library. Click here to download the PDF. Also, if you’re going to CrimeCon this June – look me up!

My after-school crowd has been clamoring to do more art-related programs. I have many artist pals, but their talents have yet to rub off on me. As a result, art programs aren’t really my forte but I try to give the teens what they want (within reason). One of our branch locations hosted a squirt gun painting program, which sounded like a fun event that I could pull off without needing any amazing artistic abilities. It turned out awesome! One of the teens told me it was the best library activity ever and the paintings were gorgeous. Check them out in the slideshow below:

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Here’s what you’ll need if you want to host your own squirt gun painting event:

Squirt guns (the cheap ones worked okay, but a few did bust and leak)

Liquid watercolors (you could also mix tempera paint and water)

Canvases

Gloves

Smocks

An outdoor space to host the event

You will need to lay down the ground rules with the teens right away . For me, that was no squirting each other or pointing guns at each other. Our event went smoothly, but there’s always room for improvement. I didn’t think to label the paint colors on the squirt guns which would have been very helpful. I would also recommend planning an activity for the teens to do while they wait for their paintings to dry. Overall, this was an excellent event that gave our teens a unique creative outlet.